Aguirre swears off large contributions

Mayoral candidate Mike Aguirre on Friday will pledge not to accept campaign contributions over $250, to keep his campaign free of special interests and big money.

Aguirre, former city attorney, is challenging his opponents to do the same — something his rivals are not likely to do.

Each of the other campaigns to date have regularly accepted $1,000 contributions from donors. Recent examples:

Councilman David Alvarez accepted $1,000 each from Robert Howard and Christopher Garrett, partners at the powerful law firm Latham & Watkins LLP.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer reported receiving $1,000 from more than 40 donors during the last week, including from Mike Morton, the owner of the Brigantine Restaurant Corp., and former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Qualcomm executive Nathan Fletcher has received $1,000 contributions from Qualcomm President Steve Mollenkopf and Bill Gershen, the CEO of a military merchandiser Vanguard Industries West.

Aguirre said his pledge is part of his “New Politics” campaign that he referenced when he formally announced his mayoral bid last week, which he said is not focused on endorsements, special-interest contributions, or “private agendas or the self-interested few.”

His self-imposed cap represents the city’s old contribution limit, which was in place from 1973 until 2005 when, after years of complaints that the limit was obsolete, the council voted to tie future campaign caps to the rate of inflation. The limit rose to $500 in 2009 and $1,000 this year.